Login Keychain Problem;

Close, but it looks like No Cigar. (FYI, I tried to reply via email, don't know if it worked, don't see it posted here, so I'm making sure with this)

Currently have my Mac still on the installer screen.... Holding in hopes of a faster than light reply (fingers firmly crossed)

Have the install disk, used it as suggested, went to the menu's and found "Reset" password, but no "Change" psw. Figured it's what you meant anyway and did it, got the same warning message when it finished (won't change the login keychain)

There is another button at the bottom of that reset psw box that said "Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACL's" but it describes returning things to factory default settings..... And that usually means you loose data, so that one make me weak in the knees. Didn't try it, still holding at the installer screen right now.

My menu on the installer screen only showed useful stuff under the "Utilities" title

Under Utilities are the following options

Startup Disk

Reset Password

Firmware Password Utility

Disk Utility

Terminal

System Profiler

Network Utility

Restore System From Backup

So what's suggestion #2??

Thanks Jeff

Well. the deeper I dig the Deeper the whole seems to get.

I followed both of your links, The first one seemed straight ahead, but the reviews below it had LOTS of people saying it didnt work, and several saying All Their Data got Wiped Out ?? YIKES. The Second link, While more involved had fewer (red flags?) from people... and several other "Experts" offering quicker solutions, up to nd including a free download of a password cracking program..... Yeah, I know

Anyway, all this made me think the less invasive the solution, the better. If something goes wrong, less "wrong" happens. The password hack, just copies a file from your drive that has the encrypted password in it, then chews on it till it gets something. Having an old PC Laptop I don't care about (Just in case something goes foo bar) makes it safe as I extract the data file and the "Hacker Program" never even resides on my Mac...... but its a **** of a process and can take hours to days to crack.....(Your Shaking Your Head right about now, Right?)

One piece of offered advice from one of those web pages you sent me to hit me as VERY SIMPLE..... but I thought it Might Just Be Smart to run it past you first, in case there are (Ut-Ohs) involved in the process?

copied text:

Alternately you could reset an admins password by doing this:

login to single/root user mode via command s A.K.A apple S and type this:

mount -uw /
ls /Users
(at this point find an admin and remember his exact name)

type: passwd (admin account name)
type password (it won’t show up on screen) and retype
reboot and login to the account.

Now If this works??? MAN THATS EASY.

EXACT SYNTAX of the commands are of some interest (I note that the word "Password" is typed two different ways in this info??)

You familiar with this method ??

Thanks

Were we not just trying to get access to an unrestricted Admin Account ??

If so, I set up a New Admin Account in "Users" and it has the advantage of Not having this Bifurcated Password issue. Have I oversimplified the issue, or does this not now give me the ability to use :Keychain Access" in Utilities to just Change my Normal Accounts Keychain to Match my Password ?

Of Concern would be:

(1) Since it WAS Bifurcated, will the system Now Recognize it as a Single Entity Again, such that if I just do the regular "Change Password" in Users, under System Preferences, that BOTH get changed to the new one, or do I just get another Half-in Half-out thing at that time?

(2) I have gone to the Keychain Access program under the new admin account, and frankly I don't see much there. I wouldn't know what to select and what to change, so if this is the way, I'm gonne need a little enlightenment... Its Not Really Self Explanatory (at least to me)

(3) Just to (KISS) things on My End, I gave the new admin account the same password as the Password for my main account (less whatever the keychain password is)

If both of them having the same password would muddy anything in the process of making these changes, please let me know and I will give the new account a different password for this process.... Just trying to cover all the bases given the time lag between exchanges. If I can ask all the right questions at ONE TIME, its gonna speed up this process a BUNCH. ;-)

Basically, while Im Not a Doe Eyed Greenhorn, Please treat me as such. Telling me something I already know does no damage, but missing a step "Assumed" that Im unaware of Can Really Foul Things Up...... and they are already messed up enough.

Thanks

OH, and I also saw an option for Auto Login that I COULD have applied to my main account ??? Don't know if that might by-pass my current situation ?? as it might force MAC to just ASSUME I did it all correct ?? but then again, I doubt it helps with changing things to be all one password ....???? so maybe not ?

Reaching at straws now

Its called the "Login Keychain" which (as I understand it) is "USUALLY" the same as your Main Admin Password. From what I can tell it seems to be the place where all the passwords for web page logins are stored (If you choose to save them) as well as Dot Mac, ITunes, Mac.Mail, Safari Forms Autofil, (something called), Wireless Network Access Info, as well as all the Sync, Backup, Time Machine, etc authorizations. Basically seems to be where ALL The Authority Info and passwords are kept for the system and places you go.

The way it is "SUPPOSED" to work is it stays the same as your Password Used to log into the computer. Either as a way of adding extra protection (User Choice to have Keychains Locked under a different password) *OR* as the result of My Situation, where the best I could do was "RESET" my password, which ONLY Changes how you log into the computer and fails to change the Login Keychain to match.

I was not able to "CHANGE" my password since you have to verify the current password First, and that is/was unknown/forgotten and RESET just doesn't get you there.

I saw another thread here (Listed to the side of this pane of "Related Discussions") and found an answer from "Happy" (expert) to someone with a very similar problem. Their "fix" was to first try "First Aid" to the keychain, but that failed since AGAIN, I don't know the password.... but the Second Method was to simply DELETE the Login Keychain, then Create a New Keychain (named Login) and set it to Default and ...Ta Da ???

My Only Real Concern with this method would seem to be the 28 Items, That I Can See (and possibly more I can't see?) that are part of this Keychain that Logic Dictates will get wiped out in the process of deletion.

I can't seem to Duplicate the Keychain (To swap out after the deletion)

To test the theory I decided to create a new Keychain (logintwo) and tried several ways of copying the data from (login) to (logintwo) but nothing seemed to work. **(If you know how to copy the info THAT Would Be Awsome) I have not yet deleted the real login keychain.

MOST things I know my passwords to. I suppose the autofil on Safari will be a total loss and there are only a few websites that I have gone to for so long auto filled that I might not be able to remember their passwords..... That is really more of an Inconvenience, than Major Problem. Im More Concerned about the things I CANT see, if any, that are involved in the operation of the computer.

Thoughts ?

Yeah. I did that, Didn't work because it asked me to enter the Login Keychain Password ....which I dont know. I really Thought I had it with THAT Fix, but no beans.

What are the issues with just Deleting the Keychain, and setting up a New One ?

If there is no big system downside ? I can live without (what turned out to be) 2 Website Passwords, I can always have those emailed to me, etc. I was just concerned about Hidden stuff in the keychains. (does that makes sense?)

No, I tried basiclly Cut & Paste, didn't work, If you know how to Import, etc. Lets do it so I can save as much as Possible before hitting DELETE ! ;-)

Thanks, Now How ?